Bobby's vision began to get blurry as he looked at his daughter resting on
Kim's chest. She was absolutely beautiful; she had a full head of dark
hair, and large brown watery eyes. Tears began to slip down his face as Kim
began to talk softly, trying to appease their crying daughter. A short time
later one of the nurses picked the baby up and went to get her length,
weight and wrap her in a blanket to keep her warm and brought her back over
to them. Several tears slid down her cheeks as her daughter was placed back
into her arms wrapped in a pink receiving blanket. She felt Bobby's hand
brush the tears from her face and turn her head towards his placing a
loving kiss upon her lips.
Joey looked at the tiny bundle in his mother's arms and began to smile. Melanie and Kim's mother stood side by side wiping tears from their eyes as they looked at the beautiful baby daughter Kim now held.
"What should we name our daughter?" he whispered into her ear, as he held his daughter's tiny hand.
Kim gazed upon her daughter's face before turning to Bobby and said, "How about Keira Michon?"
Bobby repeated the name Kim had suggested and looked upon his daughter resting in her arms and smiled as he said, "It's perfect."
Kim looked up at Bobby, tears still glistening in his brown eyes and said, "Would you like to hold your daughter?"
"I'd love to," he replied smiling, carefully picking up the tiny bundle from Kim's arms and gently cradled her in his arms. It seemed as if a million different emotions were racing through him as he looked upon his daughters' precious face. As Bobby talked softly to Keira, Joey gave his mother a hug when she said, "What do you think of your new sister?"
"She's beautiful," Joey replied looking at Bobby holding her.
Melanie was next in line to give Kim a hug and wiped a stray tear from her face said softly, "Thank you for letting me be here for this."
"No problem. Whenever it's your turn I'll be there to help you through everything." She replied softly, as a smile played across her face.
Alex and the rest of the waiting room were waiting anxiously for any news as to what was going on. The rest of the firefighters would be arriving in a little over an hour to see how Kim was doing. She got up and got a cup of coffee and sat back down, feeling butterflies in her stomach. She looked her watch and sighed, it was 9:55 p.m.
Taking a sip of her coffee, she looked down the hall towards Kim's room when she thought she heard something. She focused on the sound since all was quiet on the unit. When the sound became a little louder, she recognized the sound as the cry of a baby. A smile spread across her face as she wondered how Kim and the baby were doing.
Kim's mother gave her daughter a warm hug and said softly, "Keira's beautiful, she'll definitely make you proud."
"I know," she replied softly, smiling as she glanced over at Bobby and Keira.
"We'd better head out so you can get some rest." Her mother said quietly.
Kim gave her mother, Melanie and Joey one last hug before they left for the evening and sighed softly as she watched Bobby interact with his daughter. Keira began to fuss and no matter what Bobby did she wouldn't settle down. He gently placed Keira back into Kim's arms when it hit him he should go update everyone in the waiting room. Kim noticed his expression change and said, "What's wrong?"
"I totally forgot about everyone in the waiting room. They're probably climbing the walls by now." He said glancing down at his watch; it read 10:15 p.m.
Kim chuckled slightly since Keira had begun to settle down and said, "Go on and let them know how things are, I'll be fine."
Bobby placed a tender kiss on his daughter's tiny forehead and then lovingly kissed Kim before heading out of the room. D.K and Jimmy had dozed off in their chairs and Bobby's mother and sisters had gone to get some coffee downstairs and should be back any minute. Alex heard footsteps and looked up, seeing Bobby heading in her direction. About the same time as he got to the waiting area his mother and sisters returned with coffee. Alex woke Jimmy and D.K up, and felt butterflies forming in her stomach again, anxious to hear how her best friend was doing.
"Alex, did you have to wake me up?" Jimmy groaned.
"Do you want to know how Kim is doing?" she asked curiously.
Jimmy quickly turned his head and saw Bobby heading towards them, anticipation building inside him about the new baby.
Bobby saw everyone looking at him as he headed towards them, feeling bad he hadn't come out sooner to tell them, but he'd been a little preoccupied with Keira.
"How's Kim?" his mother asked when he reached where they were sitting.
"Exhausted, but fine." He replied, putting his hand in the pocket of his pants and got ready to remove the pictures of Keira to show everyone.
"And the baby?" she asked.
Bobby began to smile as he said, "Keira Michon was born at 9:55 this evening."
"Mi primera nieta," his mother said in almost a whisper as a few tears slipped down her face, looking at the pictures Bobby had handed to her.
"Can we see her?" his mother asked softly.
"Yeah, follow me." He replied, and then said to Alex, Jimmy and D.K, "I'll be back to fill you all in a second."
Alex nodded in response, and saw Jimmy pull out the paper from his pocket. Bobby's mother handed Alex the pictures and followed her son towards Kim's room. As they stood outside the room Bobby said softly, "Lemme check and make sure she isn't asleep before we head in."
Bobby quietly walked in and found Kim cradling a now sleeping Keira in her arms. Kim heard footsteps come into the room and looked up seeing Bobby coming in.
"Up for a few visitors?" he asked.
"Sure," she replied softly, not wanting to disturb the sleeping bundle she held.
She smiled as she saw his mother and sisters come in.
"How are you feeling?" Bobby's mother asked her.
"Tired but much better." She replied softly as Keira began to stir slightly.
While his mother and sisters talked with Kim, he headed back out to where Alex, D.K and Jimmy were.
Alex and Jimmy looked at the pictures and D.K stood behind them, looking at the pictures of Keira from over their shoulder.
"She's absolutely precious, isn't she?" Alex said to the two firefighters looking at the pictures with her.
"That she is," Jimmy replied smiling, looking at the pictures of Joey's new sister.
"You know what Jimmy, I think I just won that little contest you had going at the firehouse too," Alex said laughing.
"We'll see," Jimmy replied to her chuckling as he looked at the paper he had.
"What do you mean we'll see. I was the only one that said she was having a girl." Alex reminded him.
"True but we have to see how close you are in the other categories too," D.K said laughing.
"Why is it that most men can't accept defeat, especially at the hands of a woman?" Alex questioned, trying to avoid laughing.
Bobby walked into the waiting room and caught the tail end of Alex's statement and silently laughed to himself and said, "Did I interrupt something?"
"Not really but you can help settle the argument though," D.K said as he sat down next to Jimmy.
"Keira weighs 7 lb. 12 oz and is 21 in long," Bobby replied laughing, noticing his mother and sisters headed out of Kim's room.
"I'll be back in a second," Bobby told his three friends as he headed towards his mother and sisters.
"We're going to head out because the two of you need some rest." One of his sisters said.
"Keira is one lucky little girl, because I know that you are going to be an amazing father." His mother said, embracing her son; "I'll call you later to make sure things are going ok."
"Ok," Bobby replied, walking with his mother and sisters to the elevator.
After they'd left he returned to where Alex, D.K and Jimmy were and said, "You all want to see the baby?"
"We'd love to," Alex replied, following Bobby down the hall with Jimmy and D.K behind her.
Bobby went in first and the three waited to make sure she was up to having company.
"Alex, D.K and Jimmy are here to see you." Bobby told Kim.
"Really, send them on in," she replied smiling as Keira began to wake up.
As the three of them walked in, Alex couldn't help but smile at the sight of the tiny pink bundle Kim held.
"How's everything going?" Kim asked, noticing Keira watching Alex's movements through sleepy eyes.
"Just fine," Alex replied smiling, as Keira became more alert after having just woken up.
"Taylor, your hogging the baby, let one of us see her," D.K said jokingly.
Kim and Bobby had to laugh when Keira caught sight of Jimmy because she started to cry.
"Good one Jimmy, you scared the baby." D.K said smirking.
"Don't start D.K," Jimmy said, unsure of what he had done to cause Keira to start crying.
Alex couldn't help but laugh with Kim and Bobby. Keira still hadn't calmed down so Bobby carefully picked her up and began to speak softly in Spanish to her, hoping to calm her down. Several minutes later she began to calm down, and didn't cry the next time Jimmy came into her field of vision.
"I still don't know what I did to upset her," Jimmy said, still confused.
"Don't worry about it. At least we all got a good laugh out of it" Kim said smiling.
"Easy for you to say," Jimmy replied, looking at the tiny bundle Bobby held.
For him it brought back all the memories of when Joey was born, which had to have been one of the happiest days of his life. The group of five stood around talking for about ten minutes when Alex said, "We had better go and let you all rest."
D.K and Jimmy both gave Kim a hug before they left the room and Alex did the same wishing her two friends congratulations. As Alex was about ready to leave Kim looked at Bobby and said, "Don't you need to get your stuff from the station?"
"You're right, that and I should probably help Alex straighten the bus up since our shift is almost up." Bobby replied. He had been so preoccupied with Keira he didn't even think about that.
He passed her back to Kim and said, "I'll be back as soon as I get things squared away at the station."
"Why don't you go home and rest, I'm pretty sure they'll put Keira in the nursery for a bit just to make sure she's doing ok. Because if they do I'm going to sleep till they bring her back." Kim replied stifling back a yawn.
"Are you sure?" he asked.
"I'll be fine, plus I won't be much company if I'm sound asleep anyhow." She replied sleepily.
"Ok, I'll come back in the morning to see how you two are doing." Bobby said, gently kissing both Kim and Keira on the forehead before he left.
Bobby caught up with Alex at the elevator and headed down to the ambulance still parked outside the ER. They saw Jimmy and D.K heading to wait for a cab when Alex called out to them, "You two want a ride back?"
"Sure why not. Beats waiting for a cab." Jimmy said, heading towards the back of the ambulance.
D.K rolled his eyes at Jimmy and climbed into the back and pulled the doors shut. The primary topic of conversation back to the firehouse was the baby.
"Have you started on a nursery yet?" Jimmy asked.
"I've almost got the wall papering done but that will be what I get done tonight and organize all the furniture." Bobby said, realizing he'd probably be up most of the night.
"If you want some of us from the station can help you get everything done, and you can surprise Kim when she comes home." Alex said.
"That would be great," Bobby replied, anxious to surprise Kim tomorrow with the nursery.
"I'm definitely in, what about you two in the back?" Alex asked.
"Sure I'd love to help out." Jimmy replied, followed by the same answer from D.K.
"After our shift is over I'll give you all a lift over. We can even stop and get dinner before we get started." Bobby suggested.
"Sounds good," Alex replied smiling.
Back at the hospital, Keira had drifted back to sleep after having finished nursing. Kim looked down at her sleeping daughter and sighed contently. Ten minutes later one of the nurses came in to take Keira to the nursery for a four-hour observation period, which would give Kim time to sleep before the next feeding. She hated seeing Keira leave but was so wore out from the events of the evening it wasn't long after she fell asleep.
As Bobby, Alex, D.K and Jimmy walked into the station, all the firefighters rushed over, wanting to know how Kim and the baby were doing. Doc saw Bobby coming in and said, "Ok Caffey, spill the beans about the baby."
Bobby laughed at the eager faces of all his colleagues and said, " Keira Michon was born at 9:55 this evening."
"How's Kim doing?" Carlos asked.
"She and the baby are doing just fine. I imagine both of them are asleep right about now." Bobby replied glancing down at his watch as he passed the pictures of Keira around to his colleagues.
"Come on Bobby, let's get the bus cleaned up so we can get started on our little surprise project." Alex said, turning to head back outside.
Bobby turned and followed Alex back outside while the rest of the firefighters circulated the pictures of Keira through the group. After they finished cleaning up the bus they headed upstairs to get their stuff out of their lockers. Jimmy and given the pictures of Keira back to Bobby and he put the pictures up on the door of his locker next to the pictures of him, Kim and Joey.
When their shift was over, Alex, D.K, and Jimmy waited on Bobby outside by his car. Faith, Bosco, and Ty were heading home and noticed the group standing by his car when Ty said, "What are you three doing?"
"Waiting on Bobby so we can help finish the baby's room." Alex replied.
"Did Kim have the baby tonight?" Ty asked.
"Yeah she had the baby at 9:55 this evening," Alex replied.
Faith and Bosco heard the news and headed to where Ty and the rest of the group from the firehouse were standing.
"How's Kim doing?" Faith asked.
"She's asleep." Bobby replied, heading out of the firehouse towards his car.
"How's the baby doing?" Bosco asked.
Bobby had left one picture in his pocket incase anyone across the street wanted to see her and passed the picture to Faith and said, "Keira's doing just fine. Probably asleep like her mom."
As Faith looked at the picture of Bobby's little girl she said smiling, "She's absolutely beautiful. Congratulations."
The rest of the cops wished him congratulations, when Faith said, "You all need any extra hands to finish the nursery?"
"Sure, we all were going to pick up dinner before we got started." Bobby replied.
"I can take four in my mustang," Bosco chimed in, seeing who all needed a ride.
"We'll all just go with you then Bosco," Ty said.
"Hey Bobby, where do you want to get dinner from so I can follow you." Bosco asked.
"What do you all want?" Bobby asked.
"How about Chinese?" Alex suggested.
The rest of the group agreed and everyone piled into their respective rides and followed Bobby to a Chinese restaurant not too far from their apartment. After a brief dinner they all headed to his apartment and got started on transforming the spare room of the apartment into a beautiful nursery for Keira.
Bobby and Alex finished the wallpaper while Jimmy and D.K applied border around the wall. Faith, Bosco, and Ty organized furniture once they were done with the wallpaper and border. Faith and Alex hung the curtains and valence and stocked the changing table with supplies. After everything was done, the group stood around the door and looked at their handiwork.
"What do you think Bobby?" Alex asked.
"It's perfect. Kim is going to be surprised to see this." He replied smiling, looking over at Alex.
As everyone filed out of the room, they turned off the light in the room and dispersed.
The group that had come with Bosco had already left and Bobby said to Alex, D.K and Jimmy, "Come on I'll take you all home."
After having dropped the three of them off at their respective homes, Bobby returned home and took a quick shower and collapsed into bed, thinking about Kim and Keira before drifting off to sleep.
Piercing rays of sunlight broke through the window of the bedroom and woke him up. Rolling over to look at the alarm clock, it read 9:30 am. He got up and straightened up the apartment before getting dressed and fixing something to eat so he could pick up Kim from the hospital. Before he left, he called Kim's mother and his mother and sisters and let them know about the welcome home party/baby shower that had been planned by Alex for that morning and gave them the details. Kim's mother came up with Joey and stayed in the apartment to let the guests in while Bobby left to go pick up Kim and Keira. When Bobby entered Kim's room she was up getting her stuff together for her trip home.
"Need any help?" Bobby asked, slipping his arms around her waist.
"Nope I've got everything under control here." She replied smiling, looking over at Keira who was sound asleep.
In almost no time they were headed home from the hospital with very precious cargo on board. Kim glanced over her shoulder to the backseat where Keira was still asleep in her carrier, oblivious to anything going on. As he drove, Bobby hoped that Kim liked the nursery that everyone had pitched in and put together as a surprise for her. As they neared their apartment Kim said to Bobby, "What are we going to do about a nursery?"
"Let's talk about that when we get home." He replied smiling.
Kim noticed a twinkle in his eyes when he answered her question and realized something was up.
"What have you been up to while I was in the hospital overnight?" Kim asked curiously.
"You'll see." He replied as he pulled up in front of their apartment complex. Kim unhooked Keira from her carrier and followed Bobby up to their apartment. When they walked through the front door of their apartment, Kim was shocked to see Alex, Joey, Jimmy, her mother, Bobby's mother and sisters all sitting around talking.
"What's going on?" Kim asked surprised, looking over at Bobby.
"A welcome home party/baby shower." Alex said smiling, clearing off the presents on the sofa so she and Bobby could sit down.
"You guys shouldn't have." Kim said smiling, looking at her friends and family who had gathered in their apartment to welcome her and Keira home.
"Come on and sit down." Alex said, moving the last few presents onto the coffee table.
Kim and Bobby sat down next to Alex who began to start passing presents to Kim. Bobby held Keira while Kim began to open the gifts her family and colleagues had gotten for her. Once everything had been opened, Alex looked over at Bobby who gave her the signal that it was time for the big surprise.
"There is one more surprise we have for you." Alex said as she stood up.
Alex got a blindfold and placed it over her friend's eyes and helped her to stand as Jimmy guided her towards the nursery. Alex opened the door to the room and everyone filed in. Once everyone was situated Jimmy removed the blindfold from Kim's eyes. When she felt the fabric lifted from her face, she opened her eyes and couldn't believe what she saw.
The spare room in their apartment had been converted into a beautiful nursery. A mauve pink valence and curtains had been hung in the window. The walls had been wallpapered with white wallpaper that had mauve pink ribbons running vertically. The border applied around the top of the room had white carousel horses with mauve pink and baby blue harnesses alternating on each horse. The furniture in the room was the same as she had used when Joey was a baby. A rocking chair was placed by the window, and the only new furniture in the room was a bookcase with children's books, a CD player sitting in the bookcase which was next to the crib, and a shelving unit in the closet that was stocked with sheets, blankets and various other items, and a small dresser had been moved into the room which was full of baby clothes.
"What do you think?" Bobby whispered.
"It's beautiful." Kim replied, feeling tears stinging her eyes at the sight before her.
She turned around to her friends and family and said, "Thank you all so much. I never expected all this."
Bobby walked over and placed Keira in the crib since she was sound asleep, and turned on the baby monitors and carried the other one with him back to the living room, where everyone had returned to.
Later on after everyone had left, Kim had returned to the nursery and sat down in the rocking chair watching Keira as she slept. She sat thinking about how perfect her life had become. She'd married the perfect husband and now they had a beautiful daughter to raise. As the sun set on the New York skyline, the room was cast in a radiant orange glow. Bobby had finished straightening up the living room and headed in to check on Keira when he found Kim sitting in the rocking chair by the window. She'd dozed off in the chair after watching the sunset and was unaware when Bobby entered the room. He checked on Keira to make sure she was ok before lifting Kim from the chair and carrying her across the hall and putting her to bed.
Several hours later Kim woke up, finding herself in bed. The last thing she remembered was checking on Keira and watching the sunset so she realized Bobby must have brought her in here. She got up and went to check on Keira across the hall. After not seeing her daughter she headed towards the living room where she found Bobby stretched out on the sofa with Keira resting on his chest, with her head tucked up under his chin. Kim retreated back down the hall and picked up the video camera and got some shots of the nursery and then headed back down the hall and recorded a very heart- warming father/daughter moment. After turning the camera off and placing it on the coffee table, Keira began to fuss and Kim gently picked her up so Bobby could rest a bit.
Kim headed back towards the nursery and changed her diaper. After turning on the CD player and letting soft music fill the room she began to nurse her daughter, thinking back to when Joey had been a baby. The soft music had a calming effect on Keira and she began to settle down. As soon as Keira was done, Kim gently rocked her to sleep and placed her back in the crib, adjusting the volume of the music so it wouldn't be a distraction. After making sure everything was ok with Keira, she headed back to the living room and picked up an afghan off the back of one of the chairs and draped it over Bobby as he slept.
Kim headed into the kitchen to see if anything needed to be straightened up, and saw everything had already been taken care of. She headed in for a relaxing shower since it was late and headed in that direction, bringing the baby monitor and cordless phone with her. As she finished towel drying her hair the phone began to ring and picked it up. When she answered the phone she found Alex on the other end.
"Hey Kim, how are you doing?" Alex asked.
"I'm doing good. Things around here are pretty quiet at the moment." She replied, leaving to check on Keira.
"How's the new doting father?" Alex asked curiously.
Kim laughed lightly at the question and replied, "Asleep on the couch. You should see what I recorded an hour or so ago."
"What's that?" Alex replied.
"Bobby stretched out on the couch dozing with Keira sound asleep on his chest, her head tucked up under his chin."
"That had to have been a precious moment for sure." Alex replied smiling, picturing what Kim had just told her in her head.
"I swear for his first child, he is a natural at parenting." Kim told Alex, as she stretched out across the bed.
"Yeah, Joey practically adores him and seeing the way he interacted with Keira when we were there, you could tell." Alex replied in agreement to Kim's statement.
"Why don't you come over for a bit since I'm the only one up at the moment and we could talk and I could show you the tape from earlier." Kim said.
"Are you sure its not too late? Plus I don't want to bother Bobby if he's still asleep on the couch." Alex replied.
"Just knock lightly. I'll be near the door." Kim said as she got up.
"Ok, give me a few minutes and I'll be over." Alex replied.
Kim sat in the living room in a chair by the door and watched Bobby as he slept. Ten minutes later she heard a faint knock on the door and let Alex in. The two headed down the hall and peeked in on Keira before heading across the hall to talk. As they talked the primary topic of conversation was Keira. A short time later Kim returned to the living room and retrieved the video camera from the coffee table, next to where Bobby was sleeping and headed back to where Alex was. As the two sat and watched the tape play Alex said, "I swear that is the most precious thing I've ever seen."
"I know, its one of those once in a lifetime occurrences that a person will always treasure." Kim replied smiling.
"I hope I'm as fortunate as you have been it comes to getting married to the perfect husband." Alex said, glancing over at Kim.
"My luck with relationships hasn't always been this perfect. Just look what happened when I was married to Jimmy." Kim said in return.
"True, but you can't blame yourself for him being unfaithful. It was his choice and mistake to make and he paid for it." Alex replied.
Alex looked down at her watch and said, "I'd better be getting home, it's getting late."
"Ok. Tell everyone at the station hello for me tomorrow." Kim replied, walking with Alex to the front door.
"I will." Alex said back, smiling.
"Have a good evening." Kim replied, watching Alex head down the corridor.
After closing and locking the door she went into the kitchen and picked up an apple from the fridge and cleaned it off. Hearing Keira whimpering softly over the baby monitor she walked in to see if she was ok and still found her asleep. Kim decided she'd better wake up Bobby that way he could take a shower and get a better night's sleep in bed, not on the couch. She disposed of what was left of the apple and knelt next to where he was sleeping and gently kissed him.
When he felt her lips on his he gradually began to wake up, and looked over at Kim who still knelt next to him.
"How long have I been asleep?" He asked, rubbing his stiff neck as he sat up.
"Probably close to eight hours. Why don't you go take a shower and go to sleep in bed, it will probably be a bit more comfortable than the couch since you have to work tomorrow." Kim suggested.
"Ok, that sounds like a good idea" he replied, standing up and stretching his stiff muscles before heading off to the bathroom.
Keira had begun to cry and Kim headed down the hall to check on her. Realizing it was time for her next feeding, Kim changed CD's in the CD player and adjusted the volume of the music before picking up Keira and sitting in the rocking chair by the window. As she began to nurse, Kim held her gently across her lap as she relaxed to the sound of the music playing. She looked out at the still busy city streets, missing the excitement of working, but now her primary concern was taking care of Keira till she returned to work.
Bobby returned to the nursery after finishing his shower to check on Kim and Keira. He gently began to massage Kim's shoulders and said softly, "We have been truly blessed this year."
"I know," Kim replied quietly, relaxing even more as he continued massaging her shoulders.
Before leaving the nursery Bobby placed a tender kiss on Kim's cheek and placed a tender kiss on Keira's head before heading across the hall. About fifteen minutes later Kim began to rock Keira to sleep. It didn't take long for her to fall asleep and Kim gently placed her back in the crib and headed across the hall to join Bobby. Kim placed the baby monitor on the nightstand and slipped into bed next to Bobby. He felt the bed move and rolled over to face Kim and said, "How is our daughter doing?"
"Our daughter is doing just fine and is sleeping peacefully." Kim replied smiling, as Bobby wrapped his arms around her.
The two drifted off to sleep in each others arms until the early hours of the morning when Kim was awakened by the sound of Keira crying after having been woken up by a loud clap of thunder from a brewing storm. She picked her up and moved the chair away from the window incase there was any lightening and began to rock her crying daughter.
"Everything ok?" a half-asleep Bobby asked from the doorway.
"Yeah, I doubt she's going to bed anytime soon because of this storm so go back to bed since you have to work today." Kim replied, trying to soothe her crying daughter.
"You know, you need sleep too." Bobby reminded her.
"I know, but I'm the one on maternity leave. I'll go back to sleep when she does." Kim said in return, looking over at him in the doorway.
"Let's make a deal. If she's still up by 9:30 or 10 I'll stay up with her so you can get some rest before I go to work." Bobby suggested.
"What time is it now?" Kim asked.
"4:30," he replied.
"I can handle staying up till then." Kim said in return, gently rubbing her daughters' back.
"You sure?" he asked.
"Positive." She replied, looking over at him in the doorway.
"Then I'll see you in four or five hours unless she goes to sleep before then." Bobby said, gently kissing Kim and his daughter before returning to bed.
Kim watched him walk across the hall and gently began to talk to Keira, hoping to calm her down. The storm outside had settled down a bit but it was still upsetting Keira so Kim took her into the living room, away from where she could see the flashes of lightening. She'd stopped crying at least but still hadn't fallen asleep. Kim looked down at Keira who was looking up at her, trying hard to focus on the image above her with her large brown eyes. Hours slowly ticked by at the storm had subsided so Kim headed back into the nursery and moved the chair back towards the window and sat down, gently rocking Keira to sleep.
Keira rested her tiny head along Kim's shoulder, just as the sun began to come up over the horizon. Bobby got up around 9:30 and headed across the hall to relieve Kim. What he saw when he entered the nursery warmed his heart and almost moved him to tears. Seeing Keira asleep with her head resting along the contour of Kim's neck was a picture perfect moment he would never forget. He gently leaned down and kissed the top of Kim's head and gently rubbed his sleeping daughters' back and stood next to the chair.
"How's she doing?" he asked softly.
"She just went back to sleep. She's already been fed and changed so she should be good to go." Kim replied as Bobby picked her up and carefully put her down in the crib.
Kim stood up and began to stretch a bit before she headed across the hall to rest before Bobby had to go to work. She felt Bobby begin to rub her stiff neck and shoulders as he walked with her across the hall.
"If you need anything feel free to wake me up," Kim said, curling up under the blankets.
"Ok," he replied, gently brushing several strands of her hair out of her face and tenderly kissed her on the cheek as she fell asleep.
He picked up the baby monitor and headed into the kitchen and fixed a cup of coffee and something to eat, paying close attention to any noises that came over the monitor. Several hours later his mother called to see how everything was going and to check up on how the baby was doing. Two hours before he left for work Alex called to check on them and see if they needed anything before she went in to work. Bobby heard Keira begin to whimper softly over the monitor and went in to check on her before he woke up Kim.
"Hey Kimmy, time to get up." Bobby called, as he sat down next to her on the edge of the bed.
Kim heard his voice calling to her and rolled over and looked up at him and said, "Time for you to go?"
"Unfortunately, yes." He replied, helping her sit up; "If you need anything while I'm at work don't hesitate to call me."
"Don't worry, I will." She replied smiling as she stood up.
Bobby headed off to get the rest of his stuff together for work and Kim went across the hall to check on Keira. Finding her awake, Kim scooped her up and gently kissed her on the cheek and headed out to where Bobby was. He saw Kim carrying Keira and began to smile; hating that he had to leave them to go to work. He gently kissed Keira's tiny forehead and placed a loving kiss on Kim's lips before heading off to work.
After Bobby had left, Kim and Keira headed down to her mother's apartment to check on Joey. Joey returned with Kim to their apartment and spent the day getting acquainted with his new sister and helping his mom out around the apartment. The highlight of Joey's afternoon was when he got to help give his sister a bath. Anything dealing with his sister was exciting but actually being able to help out was even better. After she'd had a bath she'd almost fell asleep so Kim took Joey into the living room and let him hold Keira on the couch since she wasn't squirming around.
As Joey held his little sister, he looked over at his mother sitting beside him and said, "Does she cry a lot?"
"Not too bad, just when she wants fed or changed." She replied, watching her son interact with his little sister.
"What did you think of the storm that we had this morning?" Kim asked her son.
"What storm?" Joey asked, unaware that it had stormed earlier.
"Ah, still a sound sleeper," she said smiling.
"How'd you know it stormed?" Joey asked.
"Because it woke your sister up at 4:30 this morning and she didn't settle down till 9:30." Kim replied, gently rubbing Keira's stomach.
"Want to carry her into the nursery since she's asleep?" Kim asked Joey.
"Really?" Joey asked excitedly.
"Sure, just make sure to support her head and not drop her." Kim said standing up.
Joey stood up and slowly made his way towards the nursery, carrying his little sister under the watchful eye of his mother. Joey gently kissed his little sister on the cheek before Kim took her from him and placed her in the crib and picked up the baby monitor.
"Have you eaten lunch yet?" Kim asked her son.
"Not yet, nana was getting ready to fix something when you and Keira came down." Joey replied, following his mother into the kitchen.
"What do you want me to fix you?" she asked.
"Do you have any ravioli?" Joey asked.
"Sure do." Kim replied, removing the can from the cupboard and opening it.
She put the contents of the can into a saucepan and put it on high heat and waited for it to cook thoroughly for a few minutes before dishing the ravioli into a bowl for her son. She fixed herself a turkey sandwich on pita bread and sat down at the table with her son and ate a late lunch when the phone began to ring. As Kim answered the phone she found Bobby on the other end of the line.
"How's everything going?" he asked her.
"Pretty good, Joey and I are eating a late lunch since he's been helping out with Keira." Kim said, glancing over at Joey who was enjoying his ravioli.
"How's she doing?" Bobby asked.
"Right now she's asleep. Joey helped give her a bath and since she wasn't squirming all over the place carried her over to the nursery, when I put her down for a nap." Kim replied, putting her plate in the sink.
Bobby smiled to himself and said, "Alex and I will stop by on our dinner break to check up on you two and see if there is anything you need."
"Sounds good, I'll see you when you stop by." Kim replied, hearing Keira start to whimper over the baby monitor.
"Ok. Tell Joey I said hello and I'll see you soon." Bobby said, as Alex came back out with sodas.
"I will." She replied smiling to herself, grabbing a bottle of water from the fridge as she finished up talking to Bobby.
After she put the phone down she went in to check on Keira and found Joey checking on her. She was still asleep so they left her alone and headed back to the living room and played some video games until it was time for Keira's next feeding.
Joey looked at the tiny bundle in his mother's arms and began to smile. Melanie and Kim's mother stood side by side wiping tears from their eyes as they looked at the beautiful baby daughter Kim now held.
"What should we name our daughter?" he whispered into her ear, as he held his daughter's tiny hand.
Kim gazed upon her daughter's face before turning to Bobby and said, "How about Keira Michon?"
Bobby repeated the name Kim had suggested and looked upon his daughter resting in her arms and smiled as he said, "It's perfect."
Kim looked up at Bobby, tears still glistening in his brown eyes and said, "Would you like to hold your daughter?"
"I'd love to," he replied smiling, carefully picking up the tiny bundle from Kim's arms and gently cradled her in his arms. It seemed as if a million different emotions were racing through him as he looked upon his daughters' precious face. As Bobby talked softly to Keira, Joey gave his mother a hug when she said, "What do you think of your new sister?"
"She's beautiful," Joey replied looking at Bobby holding her.
Melanie was next in line to give Kim a hug and wiped a stray tear from her face said softly, "Thank you for letting me be here for this."
"No problem. Whenever it's your turn I'll be there to help you through everything." She replied softly, as a smile played across her face.
Alex and the rest of the waiting room were waiting anxiously for any news as to what was going on. The rest of the firefighters would be arriving in a little over an hour to see how Kim was doing. She got up and got a cup of coffee and sat back down, feeling butterflies in her stomach. She looked her watch and sighed, it was 9:55 p.m.
Taking a sip of her coffee, she looked down the hall towards Kim's room when she thought she heard something. She focused on the sound since all was quiet on the unit. When the sound became a little louder, she recognized the sound as the cry of a baby. A smile spread across her face as she wondered how Kim and the baby were doing.
Kim's mother gave her daughter a warm hug and said softly, "Keira's beautiful, she'll definitely make you proud."
"I know," she replied softly, smiling as she glanced over at Bobby and Keira.
"We'd better head out so you can get some rest." Her mother said quietly.
Kim gave her mother, Melanie and Joey one last hug before they left for the evening and sighed softly as she watched Bobby interact with his daughter. Keira began to fuss and no matter what Bobby did she wouldn't settle down. He gently placed Keira back into Kim's arms when it hit him he should go update everyone in the waiting room. Kim noticed his expression change and said, "What's wrong?"
"I totally forgot about everyone in the waiting room. They're probably climbing the walls by now." He said glancing down at his watch; it read 10:15 p.m.
Kim chuckled slightly since Keira had begun to settle down and said, "Go on and let them know how things are, I'll be fine."
Bobby placed a tender kiss on his daughter's tiny forehead and then lovingly kissed Kim before heading out of the room. D.K and Jimmy had dozed off in their chairs and Bobby's mother and sisters had gone to get some coffee downstairs and should be back any minute. Alex heard footsteps and looked up, seeing Bobby heading in her direction. About the same time as he got to the waiting area his mother and sisters returned with coffee. Alex woke Jimmy and D.K up, and felt butterflies forming in her stomach again, anxious to hear how her best friend was doing.
"Alex, did you have to wake me up?" Jimmy groaned.
"Do you want to know how Kim is doing?" she asked curiously.
Jimmy quickly turned his head and saw Bobby heading towards them, anticipation building inside him about the new baby.
Bobby saw everyone looking at him as he headed towards them, feeling bad he hadn't come out sooner to tell them, but he'd been a little preoccupied with Keira.
"How's Kim?" his mother asked when he reached where they were sitting.
"Exhausted, but fine." He replied, putting his hand in the pocket of his pants and got ready to remove the pictures of Keira to show everyone.
"And the baby?" she asked.
Bobby began to smile as he said, "Keira Michon was born at 9:55 this evening."
"Mi primera nieta," his mother said in almost a whisper as a few tears slipped down her face, looking at the pictures Bobby had handed to her.
"Can we see her?" his mother asked softly.
"Yeah, follow me." He replied, and then said to Alex, Jimmy and D.K, "I'll be back to fill you all in a second."
Alex nodded in response, and saw Jimmy pull out the paper from his pocket. Bobby's mother handed Alex the pictures and followed her son towards Kim's room. As they stood outside the room Bobby said softly, "Lemme check and make sure she isn't asleep before we head in."
Bobby quietly walked in and found Kim cradling a now sleeping Keira in her arms. Kim heard footsteps come into the room and looked up seeing Bobby coming in.
"Up for a few visitors?" he asked.
"Sure," she replied softly, not wanting to disturb the sleeping bundle she held.
She smiled as she saw his mother and sisters come in.
"How are you feeling?" Bobby's mother asked her.
"Tired but much better." She replied softly as Keira began to stir slightly.
While his mother and sisters talked with Kim, he headed back out to where Alex, D.K and Jimmy were.
Alex and Jimmy looked at the pictures and D.K stood behind them, looking at the pictures of Keira from over their shoulder.
"She's absolutely precious, isn't she?" Alex said to the two firefighters looking at the pictures with her.
"That she is," Jimmy replied smiling, looking at the pictures of Joey's new sister.
"You know what Jimmy, I think I just won that little contest you had going at the firehouse too," Alex said laughing.
"We'll see," Jimmy replied to her chuckling as he looked at the paper he had.
"What do you mean we'll see. I was the only one that said she was having a girl." Alex reminded him.
"True but we have to see how close you are in the other categories too," D.K said laughing.
"Why is it that most men can't accept defeat, especially at the hands of a woman?" Alex questioned, trying to avoid laughing.
Bobby walked into the waiting room and caught the tail end of Alex's statement and silently laughed to himself and said, "Did I interrupt something?"
"Not really but you can help settle the argument though," D.K said as he sat down next to Jimmy.
"Keira weighs 7 lb. 12 oz and is 21 in long," Bobby replied laughing, noticing his mother and sisters headed out of Kim's room.
"I'll be back in a second," Bobby told his three friends as he headed towards his mother and sisters.
"We're going to head out because the two of you need some rest." One of his sisters said.
"Keira is one lucky little girl, because I know that you are going to be an amazing father." His mother said, embracing her son; "I'll call you later to make sure things are going ok."
"Ok," Bobby replied, walking with his mother and sisters to the elevator.
After they'd left he returned to where Alex, D.K and Jimmy were and said, "You all want to see the baby?"
"We'd love to," Alex replied, following Bobby down the hall with Jimmy and D.K behind her.
Bobby went in first and the three waited to make sure she was up to having company.
"Alex, D.K and Jimmy are here to see you." Bobby told Kim.
"Really, send them on in," she replied smiling as Keira began to wake up.
As the three of them walked in, Alex couldn't help but smile at the sight of the tiny pink bundle Kim held.
"How's everything going?" Kim asked, noticing Keira watching Alex's movements through sleepy eyes.
"Just fine," Alex replied smiling, as Keira became more alert after having just woken up.
"Taylor, your hogging the baby, let one of us see her," D.K said jokingly.
Kim and Bobby had to laugh when Keira caught sight of Jimmy because she started to cry.
"Good one Jimmy, you scared the baby." D.K said smirking.
"Don't start D.K," Jimmy said, unsure of what he had done to cause Keira to start crying.
Alex couldn't help but laugh with Kim and Bobby. Keira still hadn't calmed down so Bobby carefully picked her up and began to speak softly in Spanish to her, hoping to calm her down. Several minutes later she began to calm down, and didn't cry the next time Jimmy came into her field of vision.
"I still don't know what I did to upset her," Jimmy said, still confused.
"Don't worry about it. At least we all got a good laugh out of it" Kim said smiling.
"Easy for you to say," Jimmy replied, looking at the tiny bundle Bobby held.
For him it brought back all the memories of when Joey was born, which had to have been one of the happiest days of his life. The group of five stood around talking for about ten minutes when Alex said, "We had better go and let you all rest."
D.K and Jimmy both gave Kim a hug before they left the room and Alex did the same wishing her two friends congratulations. As Alex was about ready to leave Kim looked at Bobby and said, "Don't you need to get your stuff from the station?"
"You're right, that and I should probably help Alex straighten the bus up since our shift is almost up." Bobby replied. He had been so preoccupied with Keira he didn't even think about that.
He passed her back to Kim and said, "I'll be back as soon as I get things squared away at the station."
"Why don't you go home and rest, I'm pretty sure they'll put Keira in the nursery for a bit just to make sure she's doing ok. Because if they do I'm going to sleep till they bring her back." Kim replied stifling back a yawn.
"Are you sure?" he asked.
"I'll be fine, plus I won't be much company if I'm sound asleep anyhow." She replied sleepily.
"Ok, I'll come back in the morning to see how you two are doing." Bobby said, gently kissing both Kim and Keira on the forehead before he left.
Bobby caught up with Alex at the elevator and headed down to the ambulance still parked outside the ER. They saw Jimmy and D.K heading to wait for a cab when Alex called out to them, "You two want a ride back?"
"Sure why not. Beats waiting for a cab." Jimmy said, heading towards the back of the ambulance.
D.K rolled his eyes at Jimmy and climbed into the back and pulled the doors shut. The primary topic of conversation back to the firehouse was the baby.
"Have you started on a nursery yet?" Jimmy asked.
"I've almost got the wall papering done but that will be what I get done tonight and organize all the furniture." Bobby said, realizing he'd probably be up most of the night.
"If you want some of us from the station can help you get everything done, and you can surprise Kim when she comes home." Alex said.
"That would be great," Bobby replied, anxious to surprise Kim tomorrow with the nursery.
"I'm definitely in, what about you two in the back?" Alex asked.
"Sure I'd love to help out." Jimmy replied, followed by the same answer from D.K.
"After our shift is over I'll give you all a lift over. We can even stop and get dinner before we get started." Bobby suggested.
"Sounds good," Alex replied smiling.
Back at the hospital, Keira had drifted back to sleep after having finished nursing. Kim looked down at her sleeping daughter and sighed contently. Ten minutes later one of the nurses came in to take Keira to the nursery for a four-hour observation period, which would give Kim time to sleep before the next feeding. She hated seeing Keira leave but was so wore out from the events of the evening it wasn't long after she fell asleep.
As Bobby, Alex, D.K and Jimmy walked into the station, all the firefighters rushed over, wanting to know how Kim and the baby were doing. Doc saw Bobby coming in and said, "Ok Caffey, spill the beans about the baby."
Bobby laughed at the eager faces of all his colleagues and said, " Keira Michon was born at 9:55 this evening."
"How's Kim doing?" Carlos asked.
"She and the baby are doing just fine. I imagine both of them are asleep right about now." Bobby replied glancing down at his watch as he passed the pictures of Keira around to his colleagues.
"Come on Bobby, let's get the bus cleaned up so we can get started on our little surprise project." Alex said, turning to head back outside.
Bobby turned and followed Alex back outside while the rest of the firefighters circulated the pictures of Keira through the group. After they finished cleaning up the bus they headed upstairs to get their stuff out of their lockers. Jimmy and given the pictures of Keira back to Bobby and he put the pictures up on the door of his locker next to the pictures of him, Kim and Joey.
When their shift was over, Alex, D.K, and Jimmy waited on Bobby outside by his car. Faith, Bosco, and Ty were heading home and noticed the group standing by his car when Ty said, "What are you three doing?"
"Waiting on Bobby so we can help finish the baby's room." Alex replied.
"Did Kim have the baby tonight?" Ty asked.
"Yeah she had the baby at 9:55 this evening," Alex replied.
Faith and Bosco heard the news and headed to where Ty and the rest of the group from the firehouse were standing.
"How's Kim doing?" Faith asked.
"She's asleep." Bobby replied, heading out of the firehouse towards his car.
"How's the baby doing?" Bosco asked.
Bobby had left one picture in his pocket incase anyone across the street wanted to see her and passed the picture to Faith and said, "Keira's doing just fine. Probably asleep like her mom."
As Faith looked at the picture of Bobby's little girl she said smiling, "She's absolutely beautiful. Congratulations."
The rest of the cops wished him congratulations, when Faith said, "You all need any extra hands to finish the nursery?"
"Sure, we all were going to pick up dinner before we got started." Bobby replied.
"I can take four in my mustang," Bosco chimed in, seeing who all needed a ride.
"We'll all just go with you then Bosco," Ty said.
"Hey Bobby, where do you want to get dinner from so I can follow you." Bosco asked.
"What do you all want?" Bobby asked.
"How about Chinese?" Alex suggested.
The rest of the group agreed and everyone piled into their respective rides and followed Bobby to a Chinese restaurant not too far from their apartment. After a brief dinner they all headed to his apartment and got started on transforming the spare room of the apartment into a beautiful nursery for Keira.
Bobby and Alex finished the wallpaper while Jimmy and D.K applied border around the wall. Faith, Bosco, and Ty organized furniture once they were done with the wallpaper and border. Faith and Alex hung the curtains and valence and stocked the changing table with supplies. After everything was done, the group stood around the door and looked at their handiwork.
"What do you think Bobby?" Alex asked.
"It's perfect. Kim is going to be surprised to see this." He replied smiling, looking over at Alex.
As everyone filed out of the room, they turned off the light in the room and dispersed.
The group that had come with Bosco had already left and Bobby said to Alex, D.K and Jimmy, "Come on I'll take you all home."
After having dropped the three of them off at their respective homes, Bobby returned home and took a quick shower and collapsed into bed, thinking about Kim and Keira before drifting off to sleep.
Piercing rays of sunlight broke through the window of the bedroom and woke him up. Rolling over to look at the alarm clock, it read 9:30 am. He got up and straightened up the apartment before getting dressed and fixing something to eat so he could pick up Kim from the hospital. Before he left, he called Kim's mother and his mother and sisters and let them know about the welcome home party/baby shower that had been planned by Alex for that morning and gave them the details. Kim's mother came up with Joey and stayed in the apartment to let the guests in while Bobby left to go pick up Kim and Keira. When Bobby entered Kim's room she was up getting her stuff together for her trip home.
"Need any help?" Bobby asked, slipping his arms around her waist.
"Nope I've got everything under control here." She replied smiling, looking over at Keira who was sound asleep.
In almost no time they were headed home from the hospital with very precious cargo on board. Kim glanced over her shoulder to the backseat where Keira was still asleep in her carrier, oblivious to anything going on. As he drove, Bobby hoped that Kim liked the nursery that everyone had pitched in and put together as a surprise for her. As they neared their apartment Kim said to Bobby, "What are we going to do about a nursery?"
"Let's talk about that when we get home." He replied smiling.
Kim noticed a twinkle in his eyes when he answered her question and realized something was up.
"What have you been up to while I was in the hospital overnight?" Kim asked curiously.
"You'll see." He replied as he pulled up in front of their apartment complex. Kim unhooked Keira from her carrier and followed Bobby up to their apartment. When they walked through the front door of their apartment, Kim was shocked to see Alex, Joey, Jimmy, her mother, Bobby's mother and sisters all sitting around talking.
"What's going on?" Kim asked surprised, looking over at Bobby.
"A welcome home party/baby shower." Alex said smiling, clearing off the presents on the sofa so she and Bobby could sit down.
"You guys shouldn't have." Kim said smiling, looking at her friends and family who had gathered in their apartment to welcome her and Keira home.
"Come on and sit down." Alex said, moving the last few presents onto the coffee table.
Kim and Bobby sat down next to Alex who began to start passing presents to Kim. Bobby held Keira while Kim began to open the gifts her family and colleagues had gotten for her. Once everything had been opened, Alex looked over at Bobby who gave her the signal that it was time for the big surprise.
"There is one more surprise we have for you." Alex said as she stood up.
Alex got a blindfold and placed it over her friend's eyes and helped her to stand as Jimmy guided her towards the nursery. Alex opened the door to the room and everyone filed in. Once everyone was situated Jimmy removed the blindfold from Kim's eyes. When she felt the fabric lifted from her face, she opened her eyes and couldn't believe what she saw.
The spare room in their apartment had been converted into a beautiful nursery. A mauve pink valence and curtains had been hung in the window. The walls had been wallpapered with white wallpaper that had mauve pink ribbons running vertically. The border applied around the top of the room had white carousel horses with mauve pink and baby blue harnesses alternating on each horse. The furniture in the room was the same as she had used when Joey was a baby. A rocking chair was placed by the window, and the only new furniture in the room was a bookcase with children's books, a CD player sitting in the bookcase which was next to the crib, and a shelving unit in the closet that was stocked with sheets, blankets and various other items, and a small dresser had been moved into the room which was full of baby clothes.
"What do you think?" Bobby whispered.
"It's beautiful." Kim replied, feeling tears stinging her eyes at the sight before her.
She turned around to her friends and family and said, "Thank you all so much. I never expected all this."
Bobby walked over and placed Keira in the crib since she was sound asleep, and turned on the baby monitors and carried the other one with him back to the living room, where everyone had returned to.
Later on after everyone had left, Kim had returned to the nursery and sat down in the rocking chair watching Keira as she slept. She sat thinking about how perfect her life had become. She'd married the perfect husband and now they had a beautiful daughter to raise. As the sun set on the New York skyline, the room was cast in a radiant orange glow. Bobby had finished straightening up the living room and headed in to check on Keira when he found Kim sitting in the rocking chair by the window. She'd dozed off in the chair after watching the sunset and was unaware when Bobby entered the room. He checked on Keira to make sure she was ok before lifting Kim from the chair and carrying her across the hall and putting her to bed.
Several hours later Kim woke up, finding herself in bed. The last thing she remembered was checking on Keira and watching the sunset so she realized Bobby must have brought her in here. She got up and went to check on Keira across the hall. After not seeing her daughter she headed towards the living room where she found Bobby stretched out on the sofa with Keira resting on his chest, with her head tucked up under his chin. Kim retreated back down the hall and picked up the video camera and got some shots of the nursery and then headed back down the hall and recorded a very heart- warming father/daughter moment. After turning the camera off and placing it on the coffee table, Keira began to fuss and Kim gently picked her up so Bobby could rest a bit.
Kim headed back towards the nursery and changed her diaper. After turning on the CD player and letting soft music fill the room she began to nurse her daughter, thinking back to when Joey had been a baby. The soft music had a calming effect on Keira and she began to settle down. As soon as Keira was done, Kim gently rocked her to sleep and placed her back in the crib, adjusting the volume of the music so it wouldn't be a distraction. After making sure everything was ok with Keira, she headed back to the living room and picked up an afghan off the back of one of the chairs and draped it over Bobby as he slept.
Kim headed into the kitchen to see if anything needed to be straightened up, and saw everything had already been taken care of. She headed in for a relaxing shower since it was late and headed in that direction, bringing the baby monitor and cordless phone with her. As she finished towel drying her hair the phone began to ring and picked it up. When she answered the phone she found Alex on the other end.
"Hey Kim, how are you doing?" Alex asked.
"I'm doing good. Things around here are pretty quiet at the moment." She replied, leaving to check on Keira.
"How's the new doting father?" Alex asked curiously.
Kim laughed lightly at the question and replied, "Asleep on the couch. You should see what I recorded an hour or so ago."
"What's that?" Alex replied.
"Bobby stretched out on the couch dozing with Keira sound asleep on his chest, her head tucked up under his chin."
"That had to have been a precious moment for sure." Alex replied smiling, picturing what Kim had just told her in her head.
"I swear for his first child, he is a natural at parenting." Kim told Alex, as she stretched out across the bed.
"Yeah, Joey practically adores him and seeing the way he interacted with Keira when we were there, you could tell." Alex replied in agreement to Kim's statement.
"Why don't you come over for a bit since I'm the only one up at the moment and we could talk and I could show you the tape from earlier." Kim said.
"Are you sure its not too late? Plus I don't want to bother Bobby if he's still asleep on the couch." Alex replied.
"Just knock lightly. I'll be near the door." Kim said as she got up.
"Ok, give me a few minutes and I'll be over." Alex replied.
Kim sat in the living room in a chair by the door and watched Bobby as he slept. Ten minutes later she heard a faint knock on the door and let Alex in. The two headed down the hall and peeked in on Keira before heading across the hall to talk. As they talked the primary topic of conversation was Keira. A short time later Kim returned to the living room and retrieved the video camera from the coffee table, next to where Bobby was sleeping and headed back to where Alex was. As the two sat and watched the tape play Alex said, "I swear that is the most precious thing I've ever seen."
"I know, its one of those once in a lifetime occurrences that a person will always treasure." Kim replied smiling.
"I hope I'm as fortunate as you have been it comes to getting married to the perfect husband." Alex said, glancing over at Kim.
"My luck with relationships hasn't always been this perfect. Just look what happened when I was married to Jimmy." Kim said in return.
"True, but you can't blame yourself for him being unfaithful. It was his choice and mistake to make and he paid for it." Alex replied.
Alex looked down at her watch and said, "I'd better be getting home, it's getting late."
"Ok. Tell everyone at the station hello for me tomorrow." Kim replied, walking with Alex to the front door.
"I will." Alex said back, smiling.
"Have a good evening." Kim replied, watching Alex head down the corridor.
After closing and locking the door she went into the kitchen and picked up an apple from the fridge and cleaned it off. Hearing Keira whimpering softly over the baby monitor she walked in to see if she was ok and still found her asleep. Kim decided she'd better wake up Bobby that way he could take a shower and get a better night's sleep in bed, not on the couch. She disposed of what was left of the apple and knelt next to where he was sleeping and gently kissed him.
When he felt her lips on his he gradually began to wake up, and looked over at Kim who still knelt next to him.
"How long have I been asleep?" He asked, rubbing his stiff neck as he sat up.
"Probably close to eight hours. Why don't you go take a shower and go to sleep in bed, it will probably be a bit more comfortable than the couch since you have to work tomorrow." Kim suggested.
"Ok, that sounds like a good idea" he replied, standing up and stretching his stiff muscles before heading off to the bathroom.
Keira had begun to cry and Kim headed down the hall to check on her. Realizing it was time for her next feeding, Kim changed CD's in the CD player and adjusted the volume of the music before picking up Keira and sitting in the rocking chair by the window. As she began to nurse, Kim held her gently across her lap as she relaxed to the sound of the music playing. She looked out at the still busy city streets, missing the excitement of working, but now her primary concern was taking care of Keira till she returned to work.
Bobby returned to the nursery after finishing his shower to check on Kim and Keira. He gently began to massage Kim's shoulders and said softly, "We have been truly blessed this year."
"I know," Kim replied quietly, relaxing even more as he continued massaging her shoulders.
Before leaving the nursery Bobby placed a tender kiss on Kim's cheek and placed a tender kiss on Keira's head before heading across the hall. About fifteen minutes later Kim began to rock Keira to sleep. It didn't take long for her to fall asleep and Kim gently placed her back in the crib and headed across the hall to join Bobby. Kim placed the baby monitor on the nightstand and slipped into bed next to Bobby. He felt the bed move and rolled over to face Kim and said, "How is our daughter doing?"
"Our daughter is doing just fine and is sleeping peacefully." Kim replied smiling, as Bobby wrapped his arms around her.
The two drifted off to sleep in each others arms until the early hours of the morning when Kim was awakened by the sound of Keira crying after having been woken up by a loud clap of thunder from a brewing storm. She picked her up and moved the chair away from the window incase there was any lightening and began to rock her crying daughter.
"Everything ok?" a half-asleep Bobby asked from the doorway.
"Yeah, I doubt she's going to bed anytime soon because of this storm so go back to bed since you have to work today." Kim replied, trying to soothe her crying daughter.
"You know, you need sleep too." Bobby reminded her.
"I know, but I'm the one on maternity leave. I'll go back to sleep when she does." Kim said in return, looking over at him in the doorway.
"Let's make a deal. If she's still up by 9:30 or 10 I'll stay up with her so you can get some rest before I go to work." Bobby suggested.
"What time is it now?" Kim asked.
"4:30," he replied.
"I can handle staying up till then." Kim said in return, gently rubbing her daughters' back.
"You sure?" he asked.
"Positive." She replied, looking over at him in the doorway.
"Then I'll see you in four or five hours unless she goes to sleep before then." Bobby said, gently kissing Kim and his daughter before returning to bed.
Kim watched him walk across the hall and gently began to talk to Keira, hoping to calm her down. The storm outside had settled down a bit but it was still upsetting Keira so Kim took her into the living room, away from where she could see the flashes of lightening. She'd stopped crying at least but still hadn't fallen asleep. Kim looked down at Keira who was looking up at her, trying hard to focus on the image above her with her large brown eyes. Hours slowly ticked by at the storm had subsided so Kim headed back into the nursery and moved the chair back towards the window and sat down, gently rocking Keira to sleep.
Keira rested her tiny head along Kim's shoulder, just as the sun began to come up over the horizon. Bobby got up around 9:30 and headed across the hall to relieve Kim. What he saw when he entered the nursery warmed his heart and almost moved him to tears. Seeing Keira asleep with her head resting along the contour of Kim's neck was a picture perfect moment he would never forget. He gently leaned down and kissed the top of Kim's head and gently rubbed his sleeping daughters' back and stood next to the chair.
"How's she doing?" he asked softly.
"She just went back to sleep. She's already been fed and changed so she should be good to go." Kim replied as Bobby picked her up and carefully put her down in the crib.
Kim stood up and began to stretch a bit before she headed across the hall to rest before Bobby had to go to work. She felt Bobby begin to rub her stiff neck and shoulders as he walked with her across the hall.
"If you need anything feel free to wake me up," Kim said, curling up under the blankets.
"Ok," he replied, gently brushing several strands of her hair out of her face and tenderly kissed her on the cheek as she fell asleep.
He picked up the baby monitor and headed into the kitchen and fixed a cup of coffee and something to eat, paying close attention to any noises that came over the monitor. Several hours later his mother called to see how everything was going and to check up on how the baby was doing. Two hours before he left for work Alex called to check on them and see if they needed anything before she went in to work. Bobby heard Keira begin to whimper softly over the monitor and went in to check on her before he woke up Kim.
"Hey Kimmy, time to get up." Bobby called, as he sat down next to her on the edge of the bed.
Kim heard his voice calling to her and rolled over and looked up at him and said, "Time for you to go?"
"Unfortunately, yes." He replied, helping her sit up; "If you need anything while I'm at work don't hesitate to call me."
"Don't worry, I will." She replied smiling as she stood up.
Bobby headed off to get the rest of his stuff together for work and Kim went across the hall to check on Keira. Finding her awake, Kim scooped her up and gently kissed her on the cheek and headed out to where Bobby was. He saw Kim carrying Keira and began to smile; hating that he had to leave them to go to work. He gently kissed Keira's tiny forehead and placed a loving kiss on Kim's lips before heading off to work.
After Bobby had left, Kim and Keira headed down to her mother's apartment to check on Joey. Joey returned with Kim to their apartment and spent the day getting acquainted with his new sister and helping his mom out around the apartment. The highlight of Joey's afternoon was when he got to help give his sister a bath. Anything dealing with his sister was exciting but actually being able to help out was even better. After she'd had a bath she'd almost fell asleep so Kim took Joey into the living room and let him hold Keira on the couch since she wasn't squirming around.
As Joey held his little sister, he looked over at his mother sitting beside him and said, "Does she cry a lot?"
"Not too bad, just when she wants fed or changed." She replied, watching her son interact with his little sister.
"What did you think of the storm that we had this morning?" Kim asked her son.
"What storm?" Joey asked, unaware that it had stormed earlier.
"Ah, still a sound sleeper," she said smiling.
"How'd you know it stormed?" Joey asked.
"Because it woke your sister up at 4:30 this morning and she didn't settle down till 9:30." Kim replied, gently rubbing Keira's stomach.
"Want to carry her into the nursery since she's asleep?" Kim asked Joey.
"Really?" Joey asked excitedly.
"Sure, just make sure to support her head and not drop her." Kim said standing up.
Joey stood up and slowly made his way towards the nursery, carrying his little sister under the watchful eye of his mother. Joey gently kissed his little sister on the cheek before Kim took her from him and placed her in the crib and picked up the baby monitor.
"Have you eaten lunch yet?" Kim asked her son.
"Not yet, nana was getting ready to fix something when you and Keira came down." Joey replied, following his mother into the kitchen.
"What do you want me to fix you?" she asked.
"Do you have any ravioli?" Joey asked.
"Sure do." Kim replied, removing the can from the cupboard and opening it.
She put the contents of the can into a saucepan and put it on high heat and waited for it to cook thoroughly for a few minutes before dishing the ravioli into a bowl for her son. She fixed herself a turkey sandwich on pita bread and sat down at the table with her son and ate a late lunch when the phone began to ring. As Kim answered the phone she found Bobby on the other end of the line.
"How's everything going?" he asked her.
"Pretty good, Joey and I are eating a late lunch since he's been helping out with Keira." Kim said, glancing over at Joey who was enjoying his ravioli.
"How's she doing?" Bobby asked.
"Right now she's asleep. Joey helped give her a bath and since she wasn't squirming all over the place carried her over to the nursery, when I put her down for a nap." Kim replied, putting her plate in the sink.
Bobby smiled to himself and said, "Alex and I will stop by on our dinner break to check up on you two and see if there is anything you need."
"Sounds good, I'll see you when you stop by." Kim replied, hearing Keira start to whimper over the baby monitor.
"Ok. Tell Joey I said hello and I'll see you soon." Bobby said, as Alex came back out with sodas.
"I will." She replied smiling to herself, grabbing a bottle of water from the fridge as she finished up talking to Bobby.
After she put the phone down she went in to check on Keira and found Joey checking on her. She was still asleep so they left her alone and headed back to the living room and played some video games until it was time for Keira's next feeding.